He Doesn't Have to Know
by Akatsuki Child
Summary: Annabeth is married to Luke, but she loves Percy. Naturally, she cheats on Luke. AU. Some OOC.
1. Chapter 1

**Another story that I decided to do. I'm focusing more on one-shots right now, so you can probably expect a flood of them from me. **

**This was different from what I normally write, but I hope you like it! **

**WARNING!! CHARACTERS ARE SLIGHTLY OOC! THERE ARE MENTIONS OF ADULT THEMES!! **

**Disclaimer: I do now own PJO.**

**----**

**He Doesn't Have to Know**

----

"I'm not going to be back until tomorrow afternoon. Are you sure you'll be alright by yourself?" Luke asked worriedly as he stood by his taxi. Annabeth felt her gut clench as she realized that she wasn't going to be alone. But of course, he didn't know that, and he didn't need to know. _Ever._

"Yes, Luke. I'm going to be fine," She gave the pretense that she was annoyed with his questions. In fact, she was quite touched that he cared so much, and it only made her feel more guilty.

"Okay!" He laughed. "I just worry about you. Look, I'll take you out to dinner tomorrow, how about that?"

She nodded with a smile. "Sure,"

He grinned back. "I'll see you tomorrow. I love you." He gave her a kiss and entered the taxi. She smiled back at him and waved as the car turned around the corner and disappeared. The partially fake smile fell off her face.

"…_I love you."_

She sighed sadly. "I _did_ love you," She replied to Luke, who was long gone.

----

Later that night, Annabeth stared at the clothes lying on her bed. The red, sexy, low-cut dress taunted her and provoked her while the black heals practically demanded her to put them on. Did she really want to pull through with this? Did she want to keep—it made her sick to think about it—_cheating_ on Luke? But the truth was, she didn't have a choice. Yes, she could just stay home—like she was supposed to—and stop this thing once and for all, but she was in love with another man, now.

Percy Jackson. He had pulled her in, and she didn't want out. She was in too deep. Once she started digging her hole, she couldn't stop, and it would only get deeper and deeper.

So then why didn't she just get a divorce? Simple: she didn't want to destroy Luke like that. He adored her, and she knew it. If she took away the one thing that mattered most to him, he would be crushed, and she didn't want to see him like that.

_But what if he finds out?_ A voice in the back of her head nagged.

"He won't," She whispered to herself. "He doesn't have to know."

And with that, she put on the taunting outfit, grabbed her coat, and walked out the door.

----

She had decided to walk the five blocks to his house. It gave her time to think about what she was doing, and it didn't arise as much suspicion. When she got to his house, she rang the doorbell and Percy, in all his jeans-and-t-shirt glory, opened the door.

He blinked. "Annabeth?" He asked, shocked.

"Surprise," She said with a small smile.

"But…I thought…you—" He spluttered. He stared down at his shoes and took a deep breath. "I didn't know you could come tonight."

"Like I said," Annabeth pushed past him into his all too familiar apartment. "Surprise," She repeated, looking back at him. She slipped her coat off and threw it on the couch. Percy shut the door and came up to her. He wrapped his arms around Annabeth and pulled her close to him. Even with her high heals, Percy was still a good half a head to a head taller than her.

She sighed happily and hooked her arms around his neck and leaned against his chest. She felt so safe and happy in his arms. She never felt this way when she was around Luke.

"Hmm," He hummed, and she felt the vibration in his chest, which made her smile. "It's definitely a nice surprise," He murmured.

She looked up at him and ran her hands over his slight stubble before leaning up and kissing him. He smiled against her lips and kissed her back.

"Eager, are we?" He teased.

She opened her eyes and glared at him. "Shut up," She said before she continued to kiss him.

"You know I like that dress on you, Wise Girl,"

"Thanks, Seaweed Brain,"

"Seaweed Brain?"

"Your head is so full of kelp all the time,"

"Ha, ha. Anyways, as much as I like that dress, I'd like it better if it was off,"

She backed her head away and stared into his now dark and intense eyes. She smiled.

"I agree,"

----

Percy and Annabeth lay in Percy's bed, just enjoying each other's company. She rested her head on his chest while he rubbed her back.

"Can you stay tonight?" He asked softly.

She sighed and closed her eyes. This is when it started to hurt. Whenever he asked her this question—he asked it every time she came over at night—she would always feel this pain in her chest. She wanted to stay, she really did, but it was risky.

"I…I don't know if I can," She whispered back. "He comes back sometime in the afternoon. I'd have to leave early in the morning."

"Please stay," He begged, and she couldn't refuse.

"Okay," She whispered back and leaned up to give him a kiss. They sat in silence for a couple minutes.

"Annabeth," He suddenly said. "Marry me,"

She blinked. "What?"

"Marry me, Annabeth." He repeated.

She sat up and stared at him, not even caring that she only had a blanket to cover herself up with.

"Percy…I…I'm confused,"

"Annabeth, I love you so much. Every night we spend together is amazing, and I can't imagine myself with anybody else. You mean so much to me, you'll never even know. I can't _stand_ the fact that you're still married to this Luke guy, that you're technically with someone else. I just love you so much. Please, Annabeth, marry me,"

Annabeth stared at him with tears running down her face. She suddenly crashed her lips onto his and kissed him with so much passion, it was mind blowing.

"I will marry you," She promised. "But not right now. I…I can't do this to Luke. Not yet, at least. I need to figure this out before I do anything rash,"

He sighed and chuckled weakly. "It's a little late for that, isn't it?"

"Percy, I love you! Don't get me wrong. I just need you to wait."

"I've _been _waiting for almost two months now."

She swallowed hard. Had it been that long already? "I need you to wait a little longer. Then I promise to marry you. I _want_ to be with you, Percy. You have to know that by now."

He stared into her stormy gray eyes and sighed again. "Okay. I'll wait."

She smiled and gave him another kiss. "I love you."

"I love you, too." He smiled and wiped away the tears.

Annabeth closed her eyes in bliss and laid her head back on Percy's chest.

_I promise, Percy, I'll marry you._

----

**Did you like it? Please let me know and review!**

**--Akatsuki Child**


	2. Chapter 2

**I decided to finally continue this. I think you guys will hate Luke by the end of this chapter…Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO!**

**----**

**He Doesn't Have to Know**

**----**

A week had passed since Percy's proposal to Annabeth. She hadn't seen him since. In truth, she was kind of afraid. At first, she had been elated at Percy's proposal. It meant that he wanted her to stay with him, and he wanted to have a life with her. And she was all for it, but as the days went by, and when Luke came home, she started to remember why she couldn't just end it with Luke with a snap of her fingers. Just because she didn't _love_ him love him, didn't mean she didn't care for him. In fact, she cared for him deeply. But like she had realized months earlier, the love she felt for Luke had slowly morphed into a brotherly love.

But how long could she keep up this charade? How long could she keep lying to Luke? She didn't even want to think about the hurt he would feel if he ever found out what she was doing. That's why she wanted to keep it from him, even when they got divorced.

And yes, she was planning on divorcing Luke. When, however, was still a mystery.

She had already tried a few times. She would muster up the courage to explain her feelings—"we shouldn't be together. I love you, but in a brotherly way."—but then she would chicken out—"Uh, I just wanted to say…I'm, um…going to the store…"—whenever she got his attention and he stared at her with those shocking blue eyes. Whenever he did stare at her, she would get a spark of the love she used to feel for him, but then suddenly it was gone, and she couldn't find it.

The fact of the matter was, she was totally in love with Percy and nothing was going to change that. Everything he did made her more in love with him. Every minute she spent with him was a minute spent in bliss, and every minute spent away from him was filled with pain.

So she was torturing herself, and by torturing herself, she was (unknowingly) torturing both Luke _and_ Percy. Luke saw the changes in her demeanor, her sudden sadness and sense of detachment. Was it something he had done or said? Had he _not_ done something? Did he do something wrong? Whatever the case, he was becoming upset with himself that he couldn't make her happy. He tried to by giving her flowers, gifts, spending romantic evenings with her, etc., but nothing seemed to work.

Percy was another case. He was upset because A) she was still with this Luke guy, B) she was ignoring him and he knew it, and C) he knew she was purposefully staying with Luke because she didn't want to hurt him. She admitted to him that she loved him and not Luke. She said yes to his proposal, for crying out loud! What was she waiting for? Granted, he was a little impatient, but he had been waiting for her for over two months now. He wanted to be able to go out in public with her. He didn't want to keep meeting her secretly. He wanted to take her to lunch and not fear being spotted. He wanted to go shopping with her and not have to worry about running into someone they know. He wanted to love her freely.

Annabeth just didn't know what to do. In the end, someone was going to get hurt because of her decisions. That made her feel all the more guilty. It seemed like all she did lately was hurt people.

But the time had come to act. She couldn't prolong it anymore. She had to make her decision now. If she didn't, she would never be able to.

She quietly entered the living room where Luke was doing work stuff. She felt her stomach drop further and further with each minute that passed by. She looked down at her interlocked hands as she timidly spoke. "Luke?"

Luke looked up at her and smiled. "Hey. What are you doing?" He asked.

"C-can I talk to you?"

He nodded and she went over and sat down beside him. "What's on your mind?"

She took a deep breath. Here it goes. "I…I think we should get a divorce." She said, her words rushing. As soon as she said that, she felt a small weight lift from her shoulders, and she felt like she could breathe properly.

Luke blinked. "What?" He said slowly. "Why?"

"Because…" Oh, she really didn't want to tell him. But…he deserved to know. "Because I'm in love with someone else."

She felt an even bigger weight lift off her shoulders once she said that.

Luke's brow furrowed. "I…I don't understand."

Annabeth sighed a little and started to explain her late night visits—leaving out Percy's name—to a guy's house whenever he left for work. She left out the part about the proposal too, but she did explain that she didn't love him quite the same way anymore.

"Trust me when I say Luke that it's not you, it's me. I don't want to put us through this when I can't love you fully. You deserve someone better than that."

Luke sighed. "I guess I should have known this was coming. I mean, I knew something was wrong, but I never thought…I didn't think…" He just sighed again. "Maybe it'll be better this way."

Annabeth was on the verge of crying. She could feel the hurt radiating from him and so she did the only thing that seemed appropriate. She gave him a hug.

"I'm sorry, Luke." She whispered.

Luke just awkwardly wrapped an arm around her shoulder. "Don't worry about it, kiddo. I'll be fine." He replied.

But she knew that even he wasn't sure that was true.

The next day, Luke called their lawyer and they were scheduled for court in a month. Meanwhile, he would live with his mom for a while.

Once he left the house with a final kiss on the forehead, Annabeth sighed. Man, she knew it was going to be hard, but she didn't expect it to be this hard. She could only imagine what Luke was going through.

Annabeth sighed again. She needed to see Percy.

----

When Percy heard the knock on the door, he was expecting to see Annabeth, but he was wrong.

Instead, there was a man with blonde hair and blue eyes—the perfect cliché of a surfer.

"Uh, can I—ah!" Percy started but was interrupted when the man punched him square in the jaw. Percy stumbled back, and the man just followed him into his apartment, slamming the door shut. He grabbed hold of Percy's collar and shoved him into the wall.

"Who the hell are you?" Percy glared.

"You stole my wife," Luke growled.

A light bulb went on in Percy's head. "So you're Luke. What gives you the right to barge into my apartment like this?!"

"Didn't you hear me? You stole my _wife!_ I have _every_ right to be here!"

Percy looked at the man in distaste. First, this guy punches him. Then, he barges into his apartment. Lastly, he starts yelling at him for no reason. Percy was starting to hate this guy.

"It's not like I forced her to do anything. You of all people should know that Annabeth wouldn't do anything she didn't want to. She came here willingly."

Luke's grip around Percy's collar tightened. "So when she mentioned she had a husband you just shook it off, right? You just wanted to be in your happy little world?"

Percy glared at him. "She said she didn't want to be with you anymore. If she would have said otherwise, I would have told her to stay home. But she kept coming back, so stop yelling at me for doing something I didn't do."

"Why you little—"

Just then the door opened and Annabeth stepped in. She stared at the scene before her, shocked. "L…Luke? What the hell are you doing?!" She stomped over to them and stepped in between them.

"I can't believe you fell for this guy, Annabeth." Luke sneered.

"You don't know anything, Luke. Just get out of here."

"Annabeth," Percy said. "Just stay back. This guy's obviously crazy. I don't want you getting hurt."

"Isn't that just sweet," Luke said, disgust obvious in his voice.

"Luke, leave." Annabeth demanded. She glared at him. She couldn't believe he was doing this. It didn't seem like him.

But looks were deceiving.

Luke shook his head. "You know, my mom was right. She didn't like you, and she had good reason. You can't ever be happy with what you have. You're always doing something, and you let your emotions rule your life. You're so indecisive, and because of that you hurt people which is probably why you don't have very many friends."

Annabeth was taken aback by this. She was genuinely hurt. And here she was worrying about hurting _him_.

She felt tears come to her eyes, but it wasn't enough for Luke. He continued talking. "You know you're like an exact replica of your mom, and she's something else, I'll tell you that. Maybe…maybe I did love you when we were dating, but then I got to see the real you and realized what a big mistake I had made." He turned his gaze to Percy, who was seething with anger. "I wish you all the luck, man. You're going to need it."

And then the guy had the nerve to turn around to walk out the door, but Percy would have none of that. He rushed to him, spun him around, and punched him. Luke fell to the ground and Percy stood over him, glaring at him.

Luke grabbed his jaw. "Son of a bitch," He growled and tackled Percy.

Annabeth, who had been staring at the floor, Luke's words echoing in her head, suddenly snapped out of her reverie and looked at the two guys fighting over her.

"Stop!" She yelled, but it was useless. They just ignored her and continued fighting. She huffed—sometimes it sucked being a woman. Men usually tended to ignore women during "manly times." So, she decided to use force.

Looking back on it, she realized how stupid it was to walk in between two men—two big, _strong_ men—in the middle of a fight.

"Guys, seriously!" She shouted, trying to get between them. "Sto—!" Suddenly, she felt something hit her cheek and she fell to the ground.

Percy and Luke were shocked as they watched Annabeth's eyes fill with tears as she lifted a hand to her cheek.

"Annabeth!" Percy exclaimed, finally snapping out of his reverie. He bent down and wrapped his arms around her. Luke, however, stared down at the two. He felt disgusted with himself. He had been the one who had hit her. He hadn't meant to cause physical harm to her.

Percy tried to calm her down, and once she was moderately calm, he turned to glare at Luke. "Get out of here." He demanded.

Luke didn't say anything. He just walked towards the door and was about to leave, but then he stopped.

"I'm sorry, Annabeth." He whispered and then left.

Percy stared after the door for a second before turning back to Annabeth. "Come on," He muttered, slipping an arm around her shoulders and under her knees. "Let's get you fixed up."

He carried her bridal style to his bedroom. He set her down on the bed. "I take it you're going to stay with me tonight?"

She just sniffled and nodded. His heart broke at the sight of her. She was clutching her red cheek and tears were trickling down her face. She was obviously thinking about what Luke had said.

Percy reluctantly turned away and started rummaging through his drawers, looking for something for her to wear. He pulled out an old pair of boxers and an old flannel, button-up shirt. "Here," He said. "Put these on while I go get you an ice-pack."

She nodded and started undressing. Percy went out to the kitchen, grabbed an ice-pack, and just as he walked in, Annabeth was buttoning up the last button. He walked up to her and carefully placed the ice-pack against her cheek. Annabeth sniffled and took the ice-pack from him.

"Come here," Percy mumbled and pulled her into a hug. He felt her shoulders start to shake as she clutched onto his shirt with her free hand. He pulled her over to the bed and he sat her on his lap, cradling her to his chest. "I'm guessing you told him."

She just nodded. "I-I don't know h-how he found out your n-name. I didn't t-tell him." She stuttered through her tears.

"It's okay," Percy mumbled, giving her kisses on her forehead. "It's okay. Don't worry. Everything will be alright. Everything will be fine."

It was hard not to believe him with the large amount of sincerity dripping from his words, but Annabeth knew that things were far from alright.

----

**Like I said, you probably hate Luke. There will be another chapter, probably the last one and then it's done. I hope everyone liked it! Review please! Flames are not allowed! Constructive criticism is! **

**--Akatsuki Child **


	3. Chapter 3

**He Doesn't Have to Know**

* * *

The next day, Annabeth left, much to Percy's disappointment. He had argued that she should stay in case something happened, but she protested, saying she need to go and sort some things out. After that, Percy knew it was useless to try and convince her otherwise. Once she set her mind on something, she didn't budge unless it was really important. He also knew that she needed her space right now. She needed time to think over what had happened.

When Annabeth entered the house that she and Luke used to live in, she could see that Luke had moved out since his stuff was gone. She sighed, the pain of hurting someone—even if it was Luke—coming to her, making her stomach sick. She crashed on her bed. She loved being around Percy, but she had to deal with this herself. Leaving Luke shouldn't have been _this_ big of a deal, but after hearing the things that he had said to her last night, she started to wonder when things started to change for him. Had it been way before she started seeing Percy? Or was it more recent?

Either way, it shouldn't have really mattered because she was in love with Percy now. She intended to marry him some day and live a happy life with him without the worries of being caught.

She sighed and got up, walking through the halls of the house. It used to be called home, but now it was just a denotation—the very definition of house. It no longer held the feeling of belonging, the feeling that this was where she belonged. It was just a building holding her things. Now her home was with Percy, which meant she would be selling the house. Besides, home or not, it held some painful memories. Ones that she'd rather get rid of.

And the first step to that was getting rid of the things that reminded her of those memories.

Annabeth found a box and, starting with their room, started packing the things she didn't want, the things that she couldn't bear to have around. It was basically pictures of her and Luke and a few CD's he had made for her. There were also some gifts he had given to her, but when she went through her closet, she stopped.

At the very back, she found her wedding dress.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. She couldn't do it. She couldn't get rid of it. It was a significant event of her life, and she needed to keep it.

After finishing going through the house, she packed the rest of the stuff and gathered it near the door. She called Percy to have him come over to help her, and he agreed, claiming he would be there in a few minutes.

Annabeth stopped and stared at the now empty and bare house. There were no pictures on the walls, no fancy decorations that signified someone had lived here…

She sighed. It was like a morgue—dead and lacking in life. But something better would come from all this. She knew it.

Love was like the four seasons: things started out great and it seemed like nothing bad was going to happen (Summer), but then suddenly things start to change and things slowly fall apart because of one stupid fight or because someone went off and did something ridiculous (Fall). Then, the worst part of love: it ends. Everything's dead and there's no hope. It's like someone yanked everything out from under you and you were left with this confusion, wondering why things ended the way they did (Winter).

However, what some people fail to realize is that something good will come from it. It's always darkest before the dawn. You have to reach hell, so to speak, before you can experience something wonderful. You have to figure out how to deal with the problem. Once you do that, something beautiful will take its place (Spring).

Such was life. For Annabeth, her new beginning would be with Percy. Of course, she would always have Luke in the back of her mind, but it wouldn't be as hard. She could sleep better at night knowing she wasn't hurting him.

But even after letting him go, was she a bad person for even cheating on him in the first place? But could she have let herself be with a man she didn't fully love? Luke was a great guy and he deserved better.

Annabeth took one last glance at the house before leaving, leaving her old self and her old life to start a new, happy life with Percy, her love.

* * *

Luke sat at a bar, by himself, drinking himself away. He wasn't exactly sure what it was—he had simply sat down and demanded the bartender give him something strong—but it was working.

Where had he gone wrong? It was obviously his fault that Annabeth left. Why else would she leave him? They had been happy when they were dating, but…

But that was just it. Once they got married, something about her changed. Maybe she had commitment issues.

He shrugged to himself. Who knows? Maybe it wasn't his fault.

"Stay the hell away from me!" Luke heard a girl say rather angrily. He merely turned in his seat to see a rather short—at least, to him she was pretty short—woman glaring at some guy who was obviously drunk. And she obviously didn't want him near her.

The guy smiled down at her. "Hey, relax, pretty lady," The man slurred. "I'll show you a good time…"

And when that pretty lady sucker punched him right in the gut, causing him to keel over, Luke felt his stomach drop, his heart stutter, and his palms start to sweat.

He watched as the pretty lady with pitch black hair smirked and walked past the drunk man towards the bar, right beside him.

Luke swallowed. He wanted to say something—anything—to get her attention.

"Nice punch," He spoke up. The pretty lady with a small frame and black hair looked over at him, startled.

She smiled. "Thanks,"

He smiled back. "I'm Luke Castellan."

"Thalia Grace."

And as Luke Castellan and Thalia Grace started to talk, and as they started to (unbeknownst to them) fall in love, Luke figured that there _was _a silver lining to every cloud. Things would get better.

He knew it would.

* * *

**Two Years Later**

Annabeth grinned as she fingered the ring that now held its place around her ring finger. Before, with Luke, the wedding ring had felt heavy, a reminder of what she had been doing, but now, with Percy's ring on her finger, she felt so care-free and happy.

She turned to Percy who was sitting beside her on the park bench. She leaned against his chest, his arm wrapped around her shoulder.

"I love you so much," She said with a smile.

Percy grinned down at her. "I love you more."

She shook her head with a small chuckle. "I don't think that's possible."

Percy didn't say anything. He just planted a kiss on top of her head.

"I wonder how Luke's doing…" Annabeth mused to herself.

"Well," Percy said. "You can only hope he's doing okay. Who knows? Maybe he found someone already."

Annabeth was slightly comforted by that. "Maybe…"

And Percy was right. That night, when Luke had met Thalia, they had instantly fallen in love. They had gone on many dates, Luke happy despite the drama he had been through. Thalia thought herself lucky to find a guy this amazing.

The first time marriage had crossed Luke's mind, he had hesitated. This was exactly what had happened with Annabeth. Would it be another repeat?

No, because Thalia was different. She spoke her feelings and what was on her mind. She was the one. He could feel it.

And so, he proposed to her, and Thalia almost screamed, which would have been _so_ out of character for her. But hey, she was really happy she would spend the rest of her life with the person she loved.

So, was Annabeth still a bad person? She cheated on her first husband and lied to him about it for a very long time. In that aspect, she was. However, in another point of view, she was a good person because by letting go of Luke, she somewhat helped him find his soul mate.

"Come on, Wise Girl," Percy said, standing up with a grin. He pulled her to her feet and held her hand. "Let's go get some ice cream."

She smiled. "Okay, Seaweed Brain," She leaned into his side and squeezed his hand.

_Yeah,_ she thought, _I made the right decision._

Because she let Luke go, everyone was happy.

And everyone—including Luke—could know that.

* * *

**Complete! I love the ending for this. I wasn't planning on it being that cheery. **

**I just want to say something. When people read this, some thought I hated Luke, and in the beginning, I did, but after reading the Last Olympian, I fell in love with him. I do like Luke, and that's why I gave him a happy ending. I don't like him with Annabeth (she belongs to Percy!), but I love LukeThalia :D**

**Thanks to all those who reviewed and encouraged me to write more!**

**Special thanks to Clara Fonteyn for being my most annoying reader! :D She basically bugged me to no end to finish this. But if she hadn't bugged me, I probably wouldn't have finished this. **

**Also, just because I want to tease you guys…I'm writing this story that probably won't come out until mid-March, but I want to give you a preview of what it will be about:**

_Artificial Engagement_

_Summary:_ _It was either become a hobo or marry the guy's daughter. He wished he had chosen to become a hobo. "For some reason, I always find myself fantasizing about strangling him to death." Percabeth, with mentions of Thuke. AU. Slight OOC._

_**Preview 1:**_

_The entire lunch was spent eating in silence. If Percy and Annabeth weren't glaring at each other, they were exchanging insults. Poseidon was thinking about the phone call he would have to make to Sally. He could just imagine how that would go down—"Hey, Sally, it's me, your ex! I just wanted to tell you that your son is getting married to a temperamental, smart, and witty girl! Oh, and did I mention they hate each other and that this whole engagement was due to my poor poker playing?"_

_That conversation wouldn't end well._

_**Preview 2:**_

_She sighed and ignored his request. "We're definitely not going to my apartment…or yours, for that matter." _

"_Why not?"_

_She stopped and raised a brow at him. "Knowing you, it's probably a pig-sty."_

"_But see that's the thing: you don't know me…and it is _not_ a pig-sty. Sure, there's probably a pile of clothes here and there, but it's not a pig-sty." _

"_Whatever you say, Seaweed Brain…"_

_Percy ran a hand through his hair and glared at the woman. There was no way he was going to survive this. _

**And that's all I'm going to show you :D**

**I love being evil. **

**Anyways, thanks for reading and review please!**

**--Akatsuki Child**


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